Breakfast ideas for pre-race

This right here was a game changer for me - rice, egg or two and soy sauce. Keeps me from getting hungry a lot longer than pancakes/bagels/bread/cereal.

3 Likes

Rice Pudding, easy to digest, low fibre.

Can use any short grain rice, risotto rice, pudding rice etc.

Cook the rice in the water and milk in a sauce pan, 15 minutes or until cooked.
Turn the heat down.

Mix egg, sugar, vanilla in a jug
Spoon half of the cooked rice in to the egg mix and stir in.

Add the jug mix back to the sauce pan heat through for 3 - 5 minutes.

Done. Very easy.

3 Likes

Porridge with some almonds and honey. Old fashioned, but it works well.

That is what I do for my normal training days. Sometimes mixed nuts.

If you have a few hours before the race, a big bowl of oatmeal with PB and banana works well. If I only have an hour, I do the same but just a small bowl, or will just eat a bagel & jam.

My races are approx. 80-100km; 2-2.5 hours.

Rightly or wrongly, I donā€™t worry too much about fibre on race day. I just go with my usual breakfast which is either porridge/ oatmeal, with frozen berries and fruit and whey.

Before a 50km TT I tend to have Porridge and maybe a coffee and a banana. Sometimes on arrival/ If I have time I like to have some Soreen and another banana about 1.5-2 hours before the race it self.

the same thing you eat regularly, and donā€™t be tempted to increase quantity as it might cause digestion issues.

Remember, donā€™t innovate on race day.

2 Likes

If I didnā€™t increase quantity on a race day I would either be eating far too much on a daily basis and getting fat, or bonking.

Neither of those are good outcomes for me :sweat_smile:

I increase the quantity the day before an intense ride/race. Prior I donā€™t. I learned that riding light and fueling more during the ride works better for me.

2 Likes

40 km/h average for 2.5 hours, good going.

I like to make a rice porridge that has 1 cup of white rice, small amount of milk, 1 sliced up banana, a bit of vanilla, cinnamon, brown sugar. Itā€™s delicious, easy to eat and full of carbs.

big day oats

Rare enough that theyā€™d be 100km, but generally 80km-ish. This season all 37.5 km/hr plus average. Old men and women racing like juniorsā€¦

God luck on your first 42K race! Thatā€™s exciting :slight_smile:

As many have mentioned already, donā€™t try anything new the day of the race haha.

I personally drink a glass of water before I have 2 toast and 2 eggs, with orange juice.

Depending on how early I ate my breakfast, I consider eating a bit of rice/avocado 40mins-1 hour before the race.

Itā€™s important to keep in mind that nutrition leading to an event and during the event is key!

We actually have a nice article that talks about nutrition (scroll down to Nutrition & Hydration):

They have talked about this on the Performance Process podcast, as well, but it seems to be a UK product? is it the same thing as Chocolate Rice Krispies in the US?

Not sure. Iā€™m in South Africa.
Itā€™s likely a puffed rice variant.
The Coco-Pops is chocolate flavored. Had more carbs/sugars than standard Rice Krispies. Must be the flavouring.

I have found moving more onto cooked rice (250-300g is 70-84g carbs) and honey (15-30g is 12-24g carbs) is more approx and I am getting about 1.5g/body weight kg/hour (around 95g carbs) in before the race, as I tend to be finished eating 60-90 minutes before Go Time.

Doing away with the milk as a fluid allows me to smash a Fanta 300ml and get the sugar in before the race. Washes down the SIS isotonic gel 40 minutes out from the start.

2 Likes

Iā€™m with @AlexMartins . I think increasing food before a ride or race is actually counterproductive - fills your gut, slows digestion, increases the potential for problems. I do better if I come in topped off from the day before, but keep it light that morning, if anything. And, definitely not too close to the ride.

Even for a 9 hour day at Leadville, I did two bagels with Peanut Butter 2.5 hours before the start. Just fueled hard with carbs the entire time. (That basically meant until mid-afternoon Iā€™d had those two bagels at 4AM and then 36 gels on a 5000-6000 kCal day, and I had zero fueling related issues that day). Same for many of my 6+ hour days in the saddle. There are plenty of times where I donā€™t fuel at all until I go out the door. Most days itā€™s coffee, and a scoop of protein powder and collagen when I wake up, then fuel on the bike.

After the ride though I hit it hard and eat well through the remainder of the day so I re-fuelā€¦

1 Like

No, Rice Krispies and Coco Pops are different products (we have both here in the UK). But both rice products so likely not much different under the skin.

Coco Pops nutritional

Rice Krispies nutritional

Yeah, I got that it is different than traditional Rice Krispies, I am talking about the chocolate version of Rice Krispies. Forgot they are called Cocoa Krispies. Seems like it is the same product?

image